The networks might be struggling on Sunday nights but not basic cable's the History Channel. The miniseries beat everything in sight Sunday night with record ratings for "The Bible. " I think this quote from executive producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett might be a little over the top: "Today, more people are discussing God's chosen people -- Moses and Abraham -- in one day than ever before," Downey and Burnett are quoted as saying in a History Channel statement. Still, you have to be impressed by the numbers.

Documentaries were supposed to be a dying genre -- and living proof that we were becoming dumber as a nation. Reality TV is cheaper and easier to make. And who has time for lengthy, in-depth explorations of anything any more in the age of Twitter? Docs were dead, the conventional wisdom decreed, another victim of our rats-on-LSD attention spans. But everywhere you look these days, it seems as if there's another documentary premiering. And some filmmakers believe that's the result of a change in audience attitudes toward the troubled state of American life today.

A few years ago, the History Channel was best known to some as a punch line on HBO's “The Sopranos.” Remember mobster Tony Soprano sitting alone late at night in his New Jersey McMansion eating ice cream and watching World War II documentaries about Adolph Hitler and Winston Churchill? These days, no one is laughing at the History Channel - not with audiences like the 13.1 million viewers who tuned in last Sunday for the first two hours of “The Bible,” a 10-hour miniseries that runs through Easter Sunday.

Adam Benson is a different kind of weekend warrior. A former Marine marksman whose career in the military was derailed by a serious motorcycle accident, Benson has turned what he thinks is a natural ability to shoot into potential reality television stardom. An architectural engineer by training, the 48-year-old Sykesville resident was among 16 to make the cut on History Channel's first season of "Top Shot", and he was brought back earlier this year to participate in the show's fifth edition as one of its All-Stars.

Adam Benson is a different kind of weekend warrior. A former Marine marksman whose career in the military was derailed by a serious motorcycle accident, Benson has turned what he thinks is a natural ability to shoot into potential reality television stardom. An architectural engineer by training, the 48-year-old Sykesville resident was among 16 to make the cut on History Channel's first season of "Top Shot", and he was brought back earlier this year to participate in the show's fifth edition as one of its All-Stars.

Memo to elementary school teachers and to anyone else who may be planning a Thanksgiving play or Pilgrim-themed lunch this week: Do not dress the little boys in boxy black coats with large, flappy white collars, square-buckled belts and black hats, nor the girls in black dresses with prim white aprons and caps. No self-respecting, fashion-conscious Pilgrim would have been caught dead in such a drab getup. The Mayflower folks dressed like the Elizabethan Englanders they were - think Shakespearean actors doing Romeo and Juliet at the Globe - and they weren't shy about accessorizing with red, purple and other bright colors.

By David Zurawik and David Zurawik,SUN TELEVISION CRITIC | November 15, 2003

Given television's fondness for sex and violence, it's no surprise that in the coming weeks, dozens of programs mark the 40th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's death by emphasizing two things: his assignations with women and his assassination in Dallas. In some cases, Judith Campbell and Marilyn Monroe get more air time than Fidel Castro and Nikita Krushchev. In others, the wrenching images of the widow in black, John-John saluting his father's coffin and the streets of Washington lined with grim and saddened faces so dominate the program that it seems as if Kennedy was killed as soon as he took office.

Realizing it's as important to preserve history as to chronicle it, The History Channel is working with the Smithsonian Institution to raise awareness about the deteriorating condition of the Star-Spangled Banner.The cable channel is putting together a one-hour documentary on the flag, which flew over Baltimore's Fort McHenry and inspired Francis Scott Key to write what would become the National Anthem. The program is scheduled to air sometime this fall.And the channel is developing education materials to be used in schools nationwide.

Baltimore's Senator Theatre moves its fight for survival to an even more visible national stage tonight, as it kicks off a History Channel program spotlighting 11 of the country's most endangered historic sites. The 62-year-old showplace, which is being cited by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a prime example of the endangered "historic theaters of America," is the first location visited during "Save Our History: America's Most Endangered 2001," premiering at 10 p.m. It also serves as home base for narrator Josh Binswanger, and pops up repeatedly during the hour.

NEW YORK -- Dan Davids could have been speaking figuratively when he said one day last week, "The History Channel is on fire." At the moment, though, he was being quite literal.The History Channel was on fire. Smoke was billowing into its offices, forcing Davids, the network's general manager, and everyone else in the building to spill out onto East 45th Street.The New York City Fire Department quickly showed up and ended the scare. Davids, assured that the History Channel was not yet history, could now continue on to lunch to discuss why his fledgling network is arguably cable industry's hottest property.

A few years ago, the History Channel was best known to some as a punch line on HBO's “The Sopranos.” Remember mobster Tony Soprano sitting alone late at night in his New Jersey McMansion eating ice cream and watching World War II documentaries about Adolph Hitler and Winston Churchill? These days, no one is laughing at the History Channel - not with audiences like the 13.1 million viewers who tuned in last Sunday for the first two hours of “The Bible,” a 10-hour miniseries that runs through Easter Sunday.

The networks might be struggling on Sunday nights but not basic cable's the History Channel. The miniseries beat everything in sight Sunday night with record ratings for "The Bible. " I think this quote from executive producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett might be a little over the top: "Today, more people are discussing God's chosen people -- Moses and Abraham -- in one day than ever before," Downey and Burnett are quoted as saying in a History Channel statement. Still, you have to be impressed by the numbers.

Whether you're stuffing your face with a KFC Double Down sandwich or watching Gordon Ramsay roast professional chefs on "Hell's Kitchen," you're sharing in one of society's biggest obsessions: food. "Food is hot," said Paula Johnson, curator for the new exhibit "FOOD: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2000," which opened recently in Washington. "It's a topic people are very interested in, as evidenced by TV, books and blogs. " Johnson's exhibit, on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, examines the transformation of food and the ways it has shaped American culture.

For the past many months, Cable TV's History Channel has been using a rather clever tag line that notes History is made every day. Historians, academics and anyone with a basic knowledge of what came before can have spirited discussions for hours on end as to what history entails, what parts of it are significant, whether people are thrust into positions that make them noteworthy or whether they affect history because they are noteworthy....

Larry the Cable Guy's done some tailgating in his day. Naturally, he's got some advice to offer. "First off," says Larry, who will be at M&T Bank Stadium this Sunday to tailgate with Ravens fans as part of a promotion for Prilosec OTC heartburn medicine, "you always wait about an hour before you lick the grill. That's always a priority. " Wise words, indeed. Anything else? Larry thinks for a moment. "You know it's a good tailgate," he offers, "when you actually miss the game.

Rob Annicelli's drive to stop a huge slots emporium planned near his home led him to extremes. He used vacation days to gather signatures for a referendum blocking the project, and took more time off to sit in a courtroom, monitoring a court effort to challenge the petition. He all but gave up his favorite sport of kayaking and his usual pastime watching the History Channel, and time with his family dwindled. "I don't like being bullied by anybody, whether they're a developer or a public official, and I felt someone needed to stand up for our community," said Annicelli, a 33-year-old federal employee who lives in Hanover.

By David Zurawik and David Zurawik,sun television critic | February 10, 2007

The History Channel rolls the dice this week with USS Constellation: Battling for Freedom -- a look back at one of the proudest chapters in the storied past of the ship that sits in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The two-hour program takes a huge gamble in its all-out commitment to re-enactments of fully crewed ships at war off the coast of 19th-century Africa, as well as slave traders ravaging inland villages to fill their coastal dungeons with new captives. Get even a few details or camera angles wrong in a sprawling period piece like this, and the illusion can be hopelessly lost.

Like any good journalist, which he indisputably is, Tom Brokaw has a tough time with the word "I." Using "I" means talking about yourself, and saying what you think and feel and believe. It's a great word for a talk-show host. It's a terrible word for a veteran TV journalist who's spent the past 40 years keeping onlookers out of the sanctum sanctorum inside his head. On TV 1968 With Tom Brokaw airs at 9 p.m. Sunday on the History Channel.

By Cassandra A. Fortin and Cassandra A. Fortin,Special to The Sun | December 30, 2007

It's almost universal knowledge that John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater on an April night in 1865. But after taking a guided bus tour in 1986 that detailed Booth's escape route, Tom Jennings discovered that there was a lot more to the story. "Many people don't know that Booth was on the run for 12 days ...

Like any good journalist, which he indisputably is, Tom Brokaw has a tough time with the word "I." Using "I" means talking about yourself, and saying what you think and feel and believe. It's a great word for a talk-show host. It's a terrible word for a veteran TV journalist who's spent the past 40 years keeping onlookers out of the sanctum sanctorum inside his head. On TV 1968 With Tom Brokaw airs at 9 p.m. Sunday on the History Channel.